Carl Morris, a 39-year old man, died on 27 January, 2013 while diving at Wastwater in the Lake District. Mr. Morris, an experienced diver, suffered a heart attack while at a depth of 50 metres. 2014 inquest results found that the death could have been prevented if the proper safety measures had been followed.

The first safety failure was that Mr. Morris did not have an up-to-date health certificate. It is a requirement of the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) that if you plan to dive deeper than 40 metres medical clearance is necessary. The last health certificate Mr. Morris had was issued in 2011. Because of his size there was some concern over his fitness to dive and that he was supposed to get re-checked again after six months. However, Mr. Morris did not get a new health clearance. Also, there were no checks carried out prior to the dive to ensure Mr. Morris had a recent check and was fit to dive. Had Mr. Morris gotten a health check the issues with his heart’s blocked arteries would have been discovered. Fitness levels should never be taken for granted, regardless of experience, and should always be maintained to ensure safe diving. One of the most common causes of diver death in those over the age of 40 is heart disease.

Even if Mr. Morris decided to dive despite the health risks it is possible his life could have been saved if he was carrying vital equipment; which he was not. If he was carrying a monitoring system that kept track of his breathing, it could have sensed he was in trouble immediately. The system would alert him, so that he could have deployed an emergency inflator that would bring him to the surface. If he was unable to deployed the device himself, the safety mechanism would kick in and deploy it for him. This system would also immediately alert his buddy that he was in trouble.

In this case Mr. Morris’s buddy did realise that he was in trouble and held his hand while trying to move him to the surface. However, his buddy lost contact and was unable to find him. His buddy would have been in a very difficult situation trying to raise Mr. Morris to the surface as he would have been a dead weight. Had an emergency inflator been in place it is possible he may have been able to get him up in time to carry out life saving treatment. Other safety precautions could also have helped ensure Mr. Morris was brought to the surface in time. This includes his buddy releasing his own and Mr. Morris’s weight belt, so that they would more easily be able to ascend.

If he and his buddy had been using a buddy safety line the two would have been connected. This would have made it possible for Mr. Morris’s buddy to find him easily after he lost contact. The use of a subsurface alert device by both Mr. Morris and his buddy could have alerted their other diving partners and anyone on the water’s surface that there was an emergency. This device makes a loud sound that can be heard both in the water and above it at a distance of up to one-mile. Another good safety tool that could have been used is a strobe light. These lights can be worn around the diver’s wrist and can run for several hours. It would have made it easier for the diving partners to keep track of each other. It is always better to be over prepared when it comes to diving safely.